Oh, how I love this series. And this could quite very well be my favorite installment. I will admit to crying openly (and in public!) when a certain something is revealed about Shazam and Dani. I had to stop and wait until I got home to finish it. For avid readers of this series, make sure you don't miss this one!

Billions of screaming fans go wild with anticipation for the revamped version of Billy Batson!

Fine. It's just me and five other geeks having a nerdgasm.

Whatever.

It counts!

If you don't know much about this title, let me give you a couple of important tidbits of information.

First, the buff character on the cover is not named Shazam. Shazam is the wizard who gave Billy Batson the power to transform into Captain Marvel.

Not much of an improvement in the name department, but still...

Shazam is also the magic word Batson uses to make the transformation.

Second, Billy Batson is a kid. Worse, he was originally an annoyingly perfect kid. See, Batson was picked by the wizard because he was so pure of heart. He was nice and sweet, and always did the right thing. He made Superman look morally deficient.

So, yeah. He was too boring to bother with.

But when I heard Geoff Jonhs was taking on this title for the re-boot, my inner dork did a littledance!

Could the great and mighty Johns make this title readable!?

Answer: Yes!

Batson is no longer a sweet orphan who tries to always do the right thing. Now he's an angry kid in the foster care system.

But he still has a Pure Heart underneath it all, right?

Eh. Not so much.

In fact, he only ends up with the powers of Shazam, because the wizard was out of time. He'd been looking for someone worthy to take the mantle, but surprisingly kept coming up empty handed. Billy accidentally found his way to the magic subway car...seriously, don't ask...and ended up in the right place at the right time. Black Adam had been freed from his prison dimension, and he was currently en route to kick some ancient wizard ass. Poor old Shazam literally has no choice but to fork over the power and hope for the best.

Of course, Batson realized the importance of being given access to such great powers, and immediately set out on an epic quest for...beer.

Oh, come on. What would you have done if you were a teenage boy who found himself suddenly able to turn into an adult?

That's what I thought.

And that's just the beginning.

Now I know that there are a few of you hardcore fans of the original Shazam out there, and seeing your beloved character portrayed in a different light will likely upset you.

Fun Fact: Nobody else cares what you think.

This title needed a kick in the ass to make it more relevant, and that's exactly what happened.

Orphan Billy Batson lives in an abandoned building, when his life is changed completely. An ancient wizard grants him the ancient powers of seven legendary heroes and gods, and whenever Billy utters the magic word: "Shazam!" he turns into Captain Marvel (never named as such in the comic due to licensing restrictions), an adult superhero. Yet Billy went wandering to places he shouldn't, and now there is an invasion of giant alien monsters, and scary talking animals calling themselves the Monster Society of Evil.

Can Billy Batson, his little sister Mary and their friend, the talking tiger Tawky Tawny prove that the sinister Doctor Sivana is in league with the Monster Society of Evil and up to no good? Can they remove the alien threat before the mysterious Mister Mind and the gigantic alien vessels destroy all human life on Earth?

Shazam! The Monster Society of Evil is a comic miniseries written and illustrated by [a:Jeff Smith|5951|Jeff Smith|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1239071106p2/5951.jpg], probably most famous for [b:Bone|92143|Bone|Jeff Smith|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1283755678s/92143.jpg|88871]. It's a reboot of the whole Captain Marvel story, retelling Billy Batson's origin story. The art is typical for Smith, and very suitable for a comic clearly aimed at a fairly young audience. The dialogue is witty and rather clever though, so it's not in any way any less enjoyable a comic to read for adults. At only four issues, collected in a beautiful collection, this is an entertaining and fast read. Well worth checking out, if you like your superhero adventures more lighthearted and fun than dark and gritty.

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